


The Roller Coaster

by things_that_matter



Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [26]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types, Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
Genre: Amusement Parks, Discipline, Domestic Fluff, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Roller Coasters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:48:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29111844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/things_that_matter/pseuds/things_that_matter
Summary: Elio takes Ollie to the amusement park, but Ollie wants to ride the biggest roller coaster.
Relationships: Oliver/Elio Perlman
Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094873
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	The Roller Coaster

Elio wondered if his little brother was turning into a smurf. His lips were blue. His hands were blue. Soon enough his nose was blue. Eventually even his hair was stuck together in sticky blue clumps. 

“I know _someone_ who is a fan of cotton candy,” Elio stated the obvious. 

“Who?” Ollie asked while stuffing another blue puff in his mouth. 

“Oliver,” Elio teased. 

But Ollie, being seven, was still quite a literal thinker. “Okay, I’ll save this last part for Oliver!” Ollie announced, smiling while twisting the top of the bag.

Elio felt a twinge of guilt. “No Ollie, that’s yours. You eat it.”

But Ollie shook his head steadfastly. “Nuh-uh, this is for Oliver,” he said, holding the bag in his left hand while reaching up with his sticky blue right hand and clasping Elio’s.

Elio hadn’t been expecting it. “Wait,” he began, cringing. He was about to pull his hand away, but then he looked down and saw the love and adoration on Ollie’s face, and he gave his baby brother’s sticky little hand an affectionate squeeze instead. 

“Let’s go wash our hands, Ollie. Okay?”

“Okay,” Ollie was agreeable enough. 

Finding a restroom, Elio took Ollie in and lifted him up to the sink, turning on the water. Elio pumped some soap into his own hand, and then rubbed it into Ollie’s hands. “Scrub, Ollie,” he instructed, and Ollie did. When both brothers’ hands were once again pristine, Elio yanked out another paper towel and dampened it. All of a sudden, the mood darkened. Ollie shook his head and took a step back. He knew what was coming. 

“Noooo,” Ollie whined. 

“Ollie, you’re all blue and sticky,” Elio told him. 

“I _like_ being blue and sticky. It’s my favor,” Ollie began, but his voice was quickly muffled by his brother wiping the damp paper towel across his mouth. 

“Uuuugh,” Ollie whined and struggled, but he was no match for Elio. When he had returned his little brother to a more humanesque hue, Elio tossed the blue paper towel in the trash can and took Ollie’s now clean hand in his own. Ollie was scowling, but Elio ignored it and reached down to give the boy a quick, one-armed hug. He felt Ollie lean into his leg and then wrap his little arm around him.

“Am I forgiven?” Elio asked teasingly. 

“Yeah. I guess,” Ollie smiled up at him. 

“Then let’s go ride something,” Elio suggested, as they left the quiet of the restroom and reentered the noise and crowds of the amusement park. 

“I wish Oliver was here,” Ollie said. 

In truth, it had been Oliver who planned the amusement park trip, but Elio had been very busy the entire week and hadn’t gotten to spend much time with Ollie. “You should go alone, and have a brother day,” Oliver had suggested. 

“No way, this was your trip. You’ve been looking forward to it,” Elio said, unwilling to let Oliver miss out on the outing.

Though Oliver did _want_ to go, he felt that Elio and Ollie needed some time together. “It’s fine, Elio,” Oliver promised. And, he meant it. 

As it turned out, Oliver had been right, Elio thought now, giving the little hand he held another squeeze. “I know you do. I miss him, too. But hey, you get _me_ all to yourself,” Elio smiled down at him. They had needed some time together. 

“Yeah,” Ollie said. Suddenly, his face brightened. “Plus when we get home, I get to give him this,” he said, holding up the bag containing a few compacted blue nuggets of what Elio considered some very questionable looking cotton candy. He simply chuckled and led the way back to the rides. 

There were still a few small rides that he thought would be appropriate for Ollie that they hadn’t gotten to yet. But then, Elio heard Ollie’s excited voice squealing, “Let’s do that one next!!” He looked in the direction that his little brother was pointing and saw a magnificent roller coaster.

“Wow. That’s awesome, huh?” Elio said before adding, “Not this year, though. You’re still too small for that one.” 

“I’m not too small!” Ollie heatedly objected. 

Elio rolled his eyes. “Ask me again when you can reach the sink by yourself,” he muttered, sounding just like a big brother. However, when Elio saw the hurt look his little brother wore, he wished that he could take it back. 

“Next year,” Elio promised, offering a reassuring smile. 

“I want to though! Please!” Ollie begged. 

“No, Ollie. They have a person who measures you. You’re just too small,” he explained, trying to sound patient. He’d been so excited about taking his brother to the amusement park, and they’d had a wonderful day. But they were both getting tired and cranky it seemed. 

“I _might_ be tall enough!” Ollie protested. 

“Ollie, you’re not listening to me,” Elio seemed to have noticed this all at once, and was simply making an observation. 

Ollie continued to grumble, but reluctantly allowed himself to be led over to the swing ride Elio seemed so intent on riding. As they stood in line, Elio heard Ollie muttering something. “What?” he asked. 

“I said if Oliver was here, he would let me ride whatever I want!” Ollie complained. 

Elio scoffed. “In what _multiverse_ would Oliver let you do whatever you want?” Elio asked. 

Ollie didn’t know what a multiverse was, but he was absolutely certain of two things. First, his big brother was being mean to him. And second, he wished Oliver had come with them. Thinking about these two things together made Ollie begin to feel very upset. 

“Leave me alone, _Elio!”_ Ollie whined, his voice shaking. He attempted to pull his hand away, but Elio wouldn’t release him. 

When Elio heard how upset Ollie was, he felt awful yet again. Sometimes he forgot what a baby Ollie still was, but when he looked down to see his eyes filling with tears and his little hand clutching what had once been a bag of cotton candy, he deeply regretted what he’d said. He stepped out of line and pulled Ollie to a nearby bench. Elio sat down and pulled Ollie close to hug him. But instead of melting into him like he usually did when he was upset, Ollie stood rigid, unwilling to be comforted. 

“I’m sorry,” Ellio apologized. “I’m really sorry, Ollie.”

“You were mean to me,” Ollie cried pitifully. 

“I know. I was. I’m sorry,” Elio said, feeling like the worst brother in the world. “Please forgive me, Ollie,” he whispered. 

Ollie nodded and leaned into him. Elio squeezed him, feeling relieved. 

“Yeah?” Elio asked. “You forgive me?” 

“Yeah,” Ollie agreed. 

After holding his brother close for another moment, Elio stood, placing his hand on top of Ollie’s head the same way Oliver often did. “Ollie, let’s go see how many inches you need to grow before next year so you can ride the big roller coaster with me, okay?”

“You want _me_ to ride it with you?” Ollie asked, feeling better already. 

“There’s no one else I’d want to ride it with more than you, Ollie,” Elio promised. 

They walked together hand in hand over to the roller coaster, and Elio found the measuring stick. It was an elephant holding its trunk up. “You have to be this tall to ride,” a speech bubble coming from the elephant’s mouth informed. When they finally reached the elephant, Ollie was indeed too short by a good two inches. Elio thought Ollie would be upset, but he wasn’t. He was smiling. 

“What’s funny?” Elio asked. 

“Nothing. I’m just happy,” Ollie said. 

“What are you so happy about?” Elio asked. Without even discussing it, they were walking toward the park exit now, swings and all other rides and games forgotten. 

“I’m just happy you want to ride the roller coaster with me,” Ollie said. 

Elio’s vision blurred as he smiled down at the little boy walking next to him. 

When they got home, Ollie couldn’t wait to get inside. Elio was about to rebuke him for jumping out of the car so quickly and not waiting on him, but then he saw how excited Ollie was, running for the house to tell Oliver about their fun day. By the time Elio reached the porch, Oliver had already answered the door, and Ollie was happily climbing up into his arms. The sight of this reminded him of climbing trees when he was Ollie’s age. He smiled, suddenly realizing that Oliver was a bit like a tree. Tall, strong, able to bend in a wind. If Oliver were a tree, he’d be a peach tree, Elio thought with a mysterious smile on his face. Oliver noticed the smile and offered his own inquisitive smile in return, but Elio only shook his head. _It’s nothing,_ he said with his face. 

“Did you have fun?” Oliver smiled at Ollie, who was now in his arms. 

Ollie laid his head on Oliver’s shoulder and nodded. “Yeah but I wish you could have come, too,” he whispered. 

Oliver rubbed his back for a moment, and then tossed him over his shoulder, making him giggle wildly. Elio had fully entered the house by this time, so Oliver leaned down to kiss him, and he was surprised to feel the longing he and Elio shared for each other ignite so quickly. Elio felt it, too, unwilling to pull back. They kissed until Ollie began to struggle, wanting to be put down. They released each other then, and Elio gave Oliver the look that Oliver had come to know meant he wanted to go to bed early tonight. 

“We missed you,” Elio smiled, nodding toward Ollie who, having been set down, now had both arms wrapped around Oliver’s leg. “We both missed you a lot.” 

Oliver ruffled Ollie’s hair, still looking at Elio. “I missed you both, too,” he said. And he meant it. 

Suddenly Ollie pulled away. “Oh, oh, oh!” he chattered as he reached into his pocket and started pulling out a plastic bag. Oliver was curious, unsure of what it could be as the child kept pulling and pulling. Finally, he’d pulled an entire bag out of his pocket and there was what looked like a small blue stone in the bottom. “It’s your favorite!!” Ollie exclaimed. 

Oliver looked curiously at Elio who explained, “It’s cotton candy.” 

Oliver looked from Elio to Ollie, who was now holding the blue stone up to him, so he did the only thing he could do in that moment. 

He put it in his mouth, smiled, and said, “Yum. Nice and crunchy, just the way I like it.” 

“I saved it for you!” Ollie beamed. 

“Thank you, Ollie,” Oliver said. And he meant it. 

They all stood in the living room together, overwhelmed by their good fortune to find such extraordinary people to love, who also loved them in return. 

“Okay, bedtime,” Elio declared. Though Ollie assumed it was a directive for him, and he was partly correct in that assumption, Elio was in reality looking at Oliver. 

“Yes, bedtime,” Oliver agreed. And he meant it. 

  
  



End file.
